Lula: We will always be intolerant towards anyone, regardless of their wealth, who challenges Brazilian laws

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva indirectly criticized businessman Elon Musk in a national speech on Friday, the 6th, for disrespecting orders from the Supreme Federal Court. Without mentioning the South African billionaire by name, Lula said “our sovereignty is not for sale.”

“No country is truly independent when it tolerates threats to its sovereignty. We will always be intolerant of anyone, regardless of their wealth, who challenges Brazilian law. Our sovereignty is not for sale,” he said.

The message to Musk comes at a time when Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has been under attack for his decision to suspend X (formerly Twitter), a social network recently purchased by the billionaire.

This Saturday, Lula will participate in the September 7 parade organized by the government at the Esplanada dos Ministérios in Brasília. The president of the Supreme Federal Court, Luís Roberto Barroso, is expected to attend the event, as is Moraes. The president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, has not confirmed his presence, while the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira, has decided not to participate. On the same date, Bolsonaro supporters will gather on Paulista Avenue in São Paulo for a demonstration whose main theme is the call for Moraes’ impeachment.

The campaign to have the minister removed from office gained momentum with the release of reports from S.Paulo Newspaper messages between the minister’s advisors at the Supreme Federal Court and the Superior Electoral Court. Bolsonaro supporters used the content to reinforce criticism that the minister acts biasedly when investigating and punishing right-wing individuals and politicians for anti-democratic demonstrations. Last week, the decision to suspend the social network X (formerly Twitter) in Brazil added yet another factor to the set of criticisms of Moraes.